Newsletter | Spring 2015 Issue 13
Collections online: White Lodge Museum joins the Archives Hub
Would you like to learn more about the interna onally signi ficant Royal Ballet School Collec ons at the heart of White Lodge Museum & Ballet Resource Centre? We are pleased to launch our new online profile at the Archives Hub. A freely available resource, the Archives Hub is a gateway to specialist repositories across the UK. Researchers can now view comprehensive descrip ons of the nature and content of our core collec ons.
Highlights include the Ursula Moreton Collec on, da ng from 1910, which contains a series of scrapbooks providing extraordinary insight into early Bri sh ballet. These were painstakingly maintained by Moreton, a founding member of the Vic‐Wells Ballet (to become The Royal Ballet), ballet teacher, director, and Nine e de Valois’ personal assistant. Moreton was systema c in her collec ng of press cu ngs, photographs, le ers and papers from the forma ve years of the School and Company, thereby crea ng a cornerstone of Coloured engraving by Gatine after Lanté depicting Marie The Royal Ballet School Collec ons. Camargo, early 19th century. RBS/WIL/ILL/020/074 The G. B. L. Wilson Collec on spans the period 1769 ‐ 1984. Wilson was an influen al dance historian and writer. He was a close friend of Arnold Haskell, the first appointed Director of The Royal Ballet School from 1947‐64. Wilson published a DicƟonary of Ballet (1957) and was a prolific photographer. The Collec on contains a vast number of his photographs char ng School events from 1966‐84, which provide an unparalleled visual record of School life. Wilson also amassed an extensive collec on of prints and illustra ons, including an important set of 19th Century lithographs of ballet dancers.
Find out more about these and further collecƟons here: h p://archiveshub.ac.uk/contributors/ royalballetschool.html
Book your research visit here: Photograph of Ninette de Valois’ The Faun (1928), with h p://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/the‐school/museum/ Ursula Moreton, kneeling front right. RBS/MOR/003/002 research‐visits/ New exhibition: Passion and Politics: Acquisition - Collection of Alan Beale MacMillan’s Romeo & Juliet
Passion and poliƟcs: MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet is a small‐scale exhibi on marking the 50th anniversary of Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo & Juliet, 1965. Set to Prokofiev’s great score, the full‐length ballet remains at the centre of The Royal Ballet’s repertoire and is performed by major ballet companies around the world. It is widely viewed as a 20th century modern classic.
Although the first performances were led by Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, the tle roles of Romeo & Juliet are more closely associated with their original creators, Christopher Gable and Lynn Seymour. The dancers’ drama c lyricism inspired MacMillan’s extraordinary choreography. Costume design from the Collection of Alan Beale for an unidentified production by the Royal Danish Ballet, The exhibi on features stunning photographs by Roy featuring Frank Schaufuss and Palle Jacobsen in the cast Round, which capture performances and portraits from the White Lodge Museum has recently received the personal original produc on. Two beau ful costumes designed by collec on of Royal Ballet School alumnus, Alan Beale. Beale Nicholas Georgiadis for Seymour and Gable are on display a ended the School in 1952, and a er a period of na onal together. Visitors can also enjoy an original Georgiadis service he joined The Royal Ballet Touring Company (to costume design for Lady Capulet, and telegrams from become Birmingham Royal Ballet) in 1957. Following injury Kenneth MacMillan’s archive. he took up teaching, and in 1966 he was invited by John
Cranko to take up the posi on of ballet master at Stu gart White Lodge Museum is extremely grateful to Roy Round, Ballet. He remained at Stu gart for the rest of his career, Royal Opera House Collec ons, Evgenia Daniel Georgiadis working with choreographers including Cranko, Frederick and Lady MacMillan for loaning items to exhibit. Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan; and dancers including
fellow School alumni Marcia Haydée and Richard Cragun. In The exhibi on runs un l 2 July 2015. Beale’s obituary in Dancing Times April 2005, Sir Peter Wright recalled that he was ‘highly respected not only for the way he conducted rehearsals but especially for his brilliant classes. These were fast, difficult, very musical and strengthening…’ The Collec on of Alan Beale comprises photographs, programmes and film, in addi on to the costume design pictured above. Easter holiday visits White Lodge Museum will be open for visits during the School’s Easter break on the following dates: Wednesday 1 April, Thursday 2 April, Tuesday 14 April, Wednesday 15 April, Thursday 16 April Visits are free and begin at 1.30pm. Please book in advance using the contact details below.
Visits to White Lodge Museum are FREE White Lodge is a working school therefore all visits must be booked in advance.
Opening times During term time the museum is open: Tuesday 1:30 - 3:30pm Wednesday 1:30 - 3:30pm
Thursday 1:30 - 3:30pm For groups of 10 people or more, alternative visiting hours can be arranged.
To book please visit: www.royalballetschool.org.uk/the-school/museum Photograph of Christopher Gable and Lynn Seymour, Email: [email protected] creators of the title roles in Kenneth MacMillan’s Phone: +44 (0)20 8392 8440, option 7 Romeo and Juliet (1965). Photo: Roy Round, 1965
The Royal Ballet School A company limited by guarantee Registered in England (547018) Registered Charity No: 214364 www.royalballetschool.org.uk Upper School 46 Floral Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DA T 020 7836 8899 Lower School White Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey TW10 5HR T 020 8392 8440